I apologize for the wait. This one took some time to edit. Enjoy.

"Life has left me more curious about its mysteries. I hope to study them all..." -Miroku, whilst ogling a woman's derrière.

He should never have left Rin to bathe on her own. Especially with a stranger. The havoc that could have been wrought by their distance if another attack occurred, could easily have destroyed the precarious stability of the girl's sanity.

Sesshomaru did not understand humans well. He was a demon who had nearly always been in the presence of other demons. But he knew Rin, for he had spent some years with her, however small. He knew that she was not well mentally. He could grasp this at the least. The girl was once a lighthouse in the dark, and now she seemed as macabre as the night.

He needed to fix this. He thought perhaps he could fix this, but Rin had a peculiar reaction to her attack and could not look to Sesshomaru. She would not even smile at him, an anomaly defined. How exactly would he, a demon who knew no comfort in his own life, be able to provide solace to one he held an affection for? He could not fathom.

He was never one to feel so unsure of himself before; his confidence and ability to solve nearly any problem was catalogued at length in his head. Also, he could not remember the last time he failed another, except where Rin was concerned. Even now, he failed the woman, for she was in the presence of some kind of lech, who wished to ogle two meek women. A fiend he could not detect, with no aura or even a scent.

What an oddity.

The being reminded Sesshomaru of Inuyasha, with hair the color of fog and mist. When it whirled around at the sound of Riu's voice, his eyes were a whirlpool, with royal colors, gold, yellow and red, swirling within. He was clearly a demon, but he must have come from the continent since he resembled nothing from Japan.

No matter.

He was caught staring at Rin and such a thing would not be tolerated. Rage began to fill his cup, soon running over. No man had the right to seen Rin naked; neither he, nor Riu, and definitely not a stranger.

Sesshomaru's teeth sharpened, mandibles meant for cutting. A growl escaped from the very depths of his soul, and he could feel the change happening from within; a transformation from man to beast.

Suddenly, the being raised his hands. A light formed at his palms, yellow and white.

"Hold," he commanded.

The light shot from his hands faster than anything Sesshomaru had ever seen. When he thought the glow would hit him, it vanished, as if it never was. Yet he found that he could no longer change into his demonic form, and was instead frozen in place. Outraged, he attempted to roar, but he could not move. He could only watch the demon. It turned to Riu, who was suspiciously behind Sesshomaru.

"Why does this demon wish to kill me?" he asked. His voice was deep now, with a certain ambience of authority, so at odds with how he first reacted when he turned. "Tell me now."

Riu could not seem to help himself. "Sesshomaru does not appreciate you ogling his woman."

The demon arched a brow. "She is his mate?"

"That depends on who you're talking about," Riu blurted. "The demoness or the woman."

"The woman," he replied.

Riu nodded stiffly. "Then, yes."

By this time, Rin had gained some distance from the pool, and was no longer at earshot with the men. She could not hear at all what they were saying. For this, Sesshomaru was grateful. He did not wish to have her hear this conversation. How appalling it would be for her to see him weakened by this creature. Even now, his face burned. The demon continued to speak to Riu, ignoring his existence. Once he was free, he intended to slice the man in three, shutting his lips for all eternity.

The demon walked toward Riu, his steps quiet and airy, as if his shoes barely touched the ground. Sesshomaru could hear Riu gulp. The fool. For Sesshomaru he had not a grain of fear, but for this flamboyant creature he did?

The demon continued his interrogation. "How do you know this woman?"

Why was he not asking Sesshomaru?

Riu hesitated for a moment, but could not restrain his reply. "I recently met the two a few days ago, but we have come to be friends, I suppose."

"Has he known her long?"

"I don't know."

"What do you know of her?"

"Very little," he admitted.

It was fairly obvious that the human had no use to Ken since his answers were half empty, requiring more questions to be asked. He finally turned to Sesshomaru. The Demon Lord's eyes resembled lava with their intensity. Clearly, he wanted to kill Ken, but he would not allow such a thing. He was simply here to look after the brown haired woman. He'd seen her a few times before, and she was a sight to behold. Struck by her beauty, he managed to find an interest in the female and wanted to learn more about her. She was a strong lady, with a body most demoness would crave as their own.

He found that he could not put aside his attraction toward her, despite knowing that a union between a demon of his rank and a woman was simply not something to be tolerated. At home, such alliances were revolted by all. He knew not if this were the case in this small isle. Perhaps things were different here. After all, the human claimed that the Demon Lord was the mate of the female. Or was she? Maybe she was naught but a slave; a damsel in distress, in need of saving.

He hoped to inquire after the demon, but he knew the creature would not comply. He sighed. He should not have frozen him, but what was he to do? The damned fool was ready to attack Ken without even asking why he was there in the first place. Which reminded him; he had seen the girl bathing with a woman. A moment later, a man was with her, and he sought only to protect her from the stranger. But that man had suddenly turned into a woman. An intriguing trick, if he had to admit it.

He sighed at the demon. "What should I do with you?" he muttered. Appeasement would be a good start. He squared his shoulders. "Let me explain myself before you attack me when I unfreeze you. Is that okay?"

The demon could not reply, obviously, so Ken continued.

"I only sought to help the woman because I saw her with another man."

Riu stepped forward, his brow furrowed. "Someone else was here?"

Ken nodded, then scratched his ear. He glanced at the auburn haired beauty. She was covering the woman, shielding her from his view. This was not necassary, considering how highly esteemed he thought of her. He could understand this though. He had just appeared out of nowhere, but it wasn't entirely his fault. After all, it was the red head who turned into a man. Such a thing frightened him to bits, because Ken thought another creature would attempt to harm the woman. She did not seem to know the man, as her face had gone pale. So Ken arrived, to the rescue. That was all.

"Uh, yeah," he muttered. "That girl was a man a second ago, and I thought he was trying to hurt her."

Riu blinked once. Then twice. Had he heard this fellow correctly? Had he actually said that Yuki was a man? What in gods' name was he smoking? First, he dared to hold hostage one of the most powerful creatures Riu had ever met, and now he uttered this drivel?

"What are you talking about?"

"The demoness was a man. I said this already. Please, don't make me repeat myself. It can be a bit of a nuisance."

Riu's eye twitched. Talk about a nuisance. "Well, as can be shown, the girls are in fine hands, so you can go on your way now."

Ken raised his brows. "I'll admit, you've got guts, but you shouldn't get so comfortable with me, sir. I can make you squeal like a pig at my behest."

Riu scowled, knowing what he said was true. The demon managed to have an irrevocable hold on him minutes before, and it was bloody terrifying. "Is this really necassary? You're not gaining any kind of points with Sesshomaru by freezing him."

Ken clapped. "Ah! Thank you for reminding me." He looked at Sesshomaru with a steady gaze. "I only meant to aide the female. I did not intend to scare her. I am not evil, and I apologize for freezing you, but you were ready to attack me without asking why I was even here and-"

"Demon," Riu snapped.

"Agh. Fine." With a snap, Sesshomaru could move again, but he remained still, his gaze penetrating the demon with a queer sense of malice few could copy.

Ken waved it away. "Simmer down, Lord Sesshomaru. I am a hero, not a villain."

Few things in the world ever irked Sesshomaru enough to cause him to lose control of his body, and not in the way this demon had. He wanted nothing more than to latch onto the creatures neck and squeeze until it exploded. Yet, the demon continued to have a small hold of Sesshomaru's more primitive nature. He could somehow sense the cold restraints bounding him to civility.

"Sesshomaru," Ken said. "I mean you no harm."

But Sesshomaru did.

"I should kill you here and now," he growled. In the past, he would have fought him, for he exuded a certain kind of power Sesshomaru had never come across. The opportunity to destroy such a specimen intrigued him, because he once lusted for absolute power above all else. He wanted to be the greatest demon the world had ever seen. Such aspirations were put to the side as of late. Perhaps he should reconsider this position.

"I implore that you do not," the demon continued. "For I have only ever been a saint, compared to the rest of our race. I saw the woman Riu claims to be yours, and only wanted to help her."

"She doesn't need you."

"Ah, but what if she did? You lot were not here for her, yet I was."

"But nothing happened," Riu said. "So what does it matter now?"

Ken shrugged. "I guess it doesn't matter anymore. But I still wish to remain with her. In fact, if it's fine with you, I'd like to introduce myself to the woman. We never got the chance to after-"

Yuki finally came forward, stopping Ken in his tracks. Sesshomaru noted that both the demon and Riu's faces turned red upon seeing her, and he was disgusted that they could not keep their emotions to themselves. Honestly, he could hardly reason with himself as to why he was still with these strangers. So what if Rin was Riu's brother? She clearly did not care since she had yet to tell the man. They could leave now, at this very moment, and never have to deal with these people again. It could be just the two of them, forever, and into eternity.

Yet she stood behind Yuki instead of with him.

The women were clothed now, but Rin's hair was still wet, drenching her kimono. He could ask Ah-Un to come and dry it for her if she wanted. Or she could leave it loose, allowing the strands to dry with the heating sun, while turning into earthen rivulets. He preferred the latter.

Her gaze remained low, to the ground, and he held in the desire to lift her chin up because he wanted to see the beauty of her face.

Instead, his musings were cut off when Ken approached Rin. He lowered himself to look up at her. Sesshomaru stepped forward, but the demon dared to freeze him once more.

"Stop this," Sesshomaru snarled.

The demon paid him no mind.

Instead, he focused on Rin and uttered softly, "Are you well?"

Rin chose not to reply. Instead, she moved away from the demon and stood close to Riu. The human puffed up his chest slightly, and Sesshomaru wanted to punch him.

This had to be a dream. No, a nightmare, rather, meant to coerce him into making a fool of himself. Even if it wasn't a nightmare, this whole event was a test of his self-restraint. Surely. But no one would make a fool of him, so he breathed deeply, steadying the cadence of his beating heart. He was able to do so with ease, and observed this meeting with an air of nonchalance. He cared for none of them. Only Rin.

It continued to speak to her. He said, "I'm sorry that I frightened you. I-I really didn't mean to." He appeared to be somewhat flustered and his strong persona diminished in her presence. Sesshomaru could understand this sentiment. She had that effect on him, too.

Finally, Rin looked up and bit her lip. The demon took that as an opportunity to speak some more.

"I just wanted to make sure you were okay. When I saw the man, I thought you got yourself into a dangerous situation, so I was going to take the guy out, if you know what I mean."

Rin cocked her head to the side. "Who are you?"

He laughed. "No one really. Just a passerby, I guess. I'm a foreigner. Just visited Japan. Thought I'd stay a while. Didn't expect to see such pretty women."

At this, Rin blushed, and Sesshomaru found that he could not look away from such a thing. She had only ever done so for him. He remembered every distinct change in her body. From when she was naught but a child, to a fine figured woman. He recalled every hairstyle she conjured. Every smile she bequeathed to him or another. Every laugh. Every tear. Every blush. The latter was always because of him; never for another.

Once, he visited Rin when she was sixteen years of age. He could not believe how much she had grown, so lovely she was and fair. He occasionally wondered whether she took a fancy toward any men from her village, and even inquired about this to Lady Kaede. He knew the old priestess would never tell a soul of his musings, and trusted her to keep their conversation to herself. Of course he did, or he wouldn't have left his treasure with her.

Lady Kaede had looked at him with a small twinkle of mirth in her eyes, even though he was stone-faced.

"No, Sesshomaru. She loves none else as much as she loves ye."

But that did not answer his question, for it implied that she loved others, simply less. So he took it upon himself to ask the girl whether she cared for any men in the romantic sense. The conversation was rather awkward as he knew not how to even ask such a question.

He chose to take her for a walk around the village. People watched them while they ambled across the road. He could see that Rin did not care for their wandering eyes, for her focus was on him. Her face was serene and a smile rested gently on her lips, content as she was by his side.

He asked her how she was fairing and what she was learning during her stay. Rin was a talkative girl and could go on for hours, but he never disliked their conversations. In fact, he craved them because his life had mostly been spent in silence.

He later asked, "Have you any friends here?"

"Oh yes," she said. "Everyone here is wonderful. They treat me very well."

"Are there any special creatures you care deeply for?"

"Why, of course!" she gushed. "I love Kaede and Kagome. They have become family to me. Even Inuyasha," she added with a wink.

He could not scowl at her for saying something so ludicrous because the wink she revealed left him tongue-tied.

"I see," he managed to mutter. "Any love interests?"

"Oh no. Nonononono," she rambled, flushing profusely. "I don't feel anything romantic for any man. I'm too young," she added.

Pleased, he ended such talk and moved on to other subjects. He observed that while they did so, Rin remained red. It was for him, he wanted to believe.

But now it was for another.

Rin had no idea who this fellow was. She'd never met him in her life, yet he seemed to be a friendly sort. She always thought herself a good judge of character, and despite their initial meeting, he apologized enough times to let her know he was well intentioned and only wished to help. She fought a smile, because he thought Yuki had been a villain of some kind. From an outside perspective, this was a rather comical event.

Then he mentioned something about her being beautiful and Rin felt her face grow warm. He was the only male who'd ever seen her body in a healthy fashion, and she could not deny that such a statement flattered her.

"Thank you," she said.

The demon then smiled, and it was so good natured, she reciprocated and asked him his name.

He bowed before her. "My name is Ken. I feel honored to finally introduce myself to you. I meant to do so some time ago, but I wasn't given the chance to. I had to work on some issues, if you know what I mean," he said with a wink.

She didn't know what he meant by that, but she didn't care to question him. She simply bowed and told him, "Thank you for trying to help me. But I'm okay now."

He nodded with a grin. "I can see that."

Cheeky fellow.

Rin almost laughed. Almost. She could only muster one for the day. At this moment, she was feeling a bit lethargic and needed some rest. She turned to Riu and asked if they could go back to the campsite. With a nod, they made their way there.

Oddly enough, Ken followed.

The pain from his ankle did not wish to wane, it seemed. He sat by the fire, watching it cackle and pop before him. The flames branched and snaked alone the logs, moving and retreating like a heartbeat. It reminded him of his wound, pulsating the way it was. He ground his teeth, nearly shattering them.

He did not feel well.

The fire was doing things to him because it warmed his skin so much, he wondered if he was actually in it. Something was wrong with him. Moisture was beginning to build on his flesh, and his lips were growing dry. He needed water. Perhaps he was dehydrated, or famished? He could not tell. The waves pulsated again and he hissed.

No one noticed.

Sesshomaru sat alone. Jaken and Ah-Un went hunting for themselves during this cool night. He was left only with Rin and the three new travelers he had the misfortune of meeting. Rin did not feel the same. In fact, it looked as though she liked each and every one for reasons he could never comprehend.

She sat with them, listening to their conversations, saying nothing. Her face had yet to regain its natural hue, a tragedy of sorts. It only glowed when she was close to the fire, but she was nowhere near Sesshomaru, more comfortable with strangers than one she called master.

Disgust filled him. Not for Rin. No, never for her. It was felt solely for himself. He would never admit it to another soul, but he knew that he was socially inept. He could not hold a conversation for very long, since he'd always grow uninterested with other's thoughts. But he wanted to know what Rin was thinking; whether she truly was listening to those people, or thinking about him. He wanted her to think about him. He craved her attention, he could admit this without doubt. Since he had always had it, being deprived left him wanting. But what could he do to get her to look at him? What could he say?

He wished he had someone to talk to about this nonsense. He had never allowed himself to open up to anyone about most of his feelings, except through anger. The only time people ever got a reaction out of him was when he was furious. The way he was, caused him to become a solitary creature, surrounded by few, known truly by none. He didn't even have anyone to call a friend, which was damned pathetic once he got to thinking about it. And when did that happen? When did he even care to have a friend? He had his companions. They were no friends, sure, but they were a constant presence in his life, and Rin... Well, Rin was his future.

Perhaps he could let Rin be that person though.

Yes. This sounded good. He didn't need anyone in his life, but he wanted Rin. He could feel something deeper growing for her, and it entailed that he change the definition of their relationship. To what, he hadn't a clue, but he wanted to be able to speak to her about his thoughts. Most of all, he wanted to hear hers.

It felt good to be in the presence of strangers. Their simple chatter allowed for negative thoughts to be quashed. Still, she could not rid herself of the presence of Lord Sesshomaru, and this made all signs of comfort vanish with a snap.

She had to leave him. If saddened her deeply and brought heartache to her soul, but Rin simply knew that she could not remain by his side any longer.

She wasn't good enough for him.

Thinking about that caused her to physically ache and she felt on the verge of tears. She quelled the damned moisture though, because there was no use in crying. She was raised to be stronger than this. Besides, "Tears," Lord Sesshomaru once said, "Are for the weak."

She had to leave. She simply needed the right moment to ask Riu to take her away. Where to? She had no idea, but far from here would be nice.

At the moment, Riu was standing before Yuki, awkwardly attempting to strike up a conversation with her. Clearly, he wanted to know what Ken meant when he claimed that she had changed into a male, but he hadn't the gumption to ask such a thing. Instead, he opened and closed his mouth, resembling a fish.

The demon called Ken noticed this and gave Riu a strange look. He said, "What is wrong with you?"

Riu floundered for words, while his complexion darkened. When he realized that he was looking somewhat ridiculous, he scowled. "Leave me be," he muttered. "I'm not bothering anyone."

"Your facial expressions humor me."

Riu narrowed his eyes. "You're pretty annoying."

Ken beamed. "I know."

Riu looked away from him, and managed to find his gaze back on Yuki and exhaled loudly. She had her legs crossed and the skirt she wore stopped at her knees. Riu's gaze darted from her down-turned face to her legs multiple times. Finally, he said, "What did Ken mean when he said you were a male?"

Yuki turned to him, her face flushed, and bit her lip. "I-I can be one?" It ended with a question mark, and humor swam in Rin's eyes. Seemed the girl was attracted to Riu. What stroke of chance thought to have her find her long lost brother, and mayhap gain a sister-in-law, in spite of tragedy? The gods were a funny folk.

Riu narrowed his eyes. "What does that mean?"

"I'm part chameleon. I can't change my species, but I can change my sex."

His mouth dropped. "No way."

"Uh. Yes?"

"How?"

"I just kind of will it."

"Show me."

"Erm..." She glanced at Rin for a moment as if to ask whether this was a good idea.

Rin shrugged. "Best show him now, I suppose."

With a nod, Yuki immediately began to revert to her male form.

Riu's eyes rolled back and he fainted.